This event is free and open to the public. The Artists’ Association meets at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 23630 Valencia Blvd., Valencia.

“I spend a good deal of time on location to develop my color sketches and ideas, allowing myself the freedom to explore and dig deeper with each piece. Those sketches are used later in the studio to create larger paintings,” said Merrell. “The on-location work is done with brushes, often through multiple sittings at the location, while the studio pieces are developed more slowly, allowing for other approaches including some palette knife application.”

Merrell will offer guests the chance to win a special prize at the meeting.

“For the raffle at the meeting, I will offer a free spot in my next workshop,” he said.

The workshops will be in: Anza-Borrego on March 15-17; 2013 and Joshua Tree on April 19-21, 2013. Visit www.ericmerrell.com/workshops.html to learn more details from the last workshop in Anza-Borrego.

Merrell has appeared in publications such as American Art Collector, American Artist, the California Art Club Newsletter, Plein Air Painting and Southwest Art.

His work has been exhibited at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Bennington, Vt; the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana; California State University of Los Angeles, Ca; the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Orleans, Mass; the Long Beach Museum of Art in Long Beach, Ca; the Mission San Juan Capistrano Museum in San Juan Capistrano, Ca; the Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, Ca; the Pasadena Museum of California Art and the Pasadena Museum of History, both in Pasadena, Ca; the Salton Sea History Museum, North Shore, Ca; and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum at Pepperdine University in Malibu.